New Project, looking for input & gauging interest

[wiggy]

OK, so I've mentioned (on a few occasions) that I'm working on a new project that may interest you guys.  I FINALLY got Solidworks up-and-running on my Windows 7 machine which has allowed me really start moving forward with the idea.  I was going to wait until I was a bit further in, but I'm too amped at this point to keep it to myself, and hopefully you guys will share some of my enthusiasm.


I'm guessing that many of you have seen the console-ized MVS Neo Geos and possibly even the awesomely beautiful and well crafted wooden MVS units (http://www.analogueinteractive.com/). In the same vein, I am working on new casings for retro systems. I'm not taking about cheesy clear replica Xbox360 shells with a zillion LEDs and liquid cooling. What I am shooting for is a re-envisioned aesthetic for many of our favorite old-school machines!  

Here's my rationale for the project:

Many of us old-school gamers are adults with "real" jobs, wives/long-term girlfriends/domestic partners, houses and kids of our own. I can't speak for all of your partners, but mine doesn't really care for the look of my bright orange N64 or the frumpiness of the Super Nintendo.  Not to mention that many of us are being paid well over our minimum wage burger flipper jobs now and we have some disposable income to throw at our hobby instead of having to save our allowance week-to-week, month-to-month just to afford a new "game tape".

The inconsistent design of all the various consoles is another issue I want to address.  Optimally, I'd like to create new cases for as many of the older consoles as possible with a similar aesthetic in the way that various pieces of high-end stereo equipment look like they belong together.  

On the other hand, many of of you may want something that's closer to the other end of the spectrum.  Maybe something like a prototpye design that was left on the cutting room floor?

I've decided to start with the SNES mini.  I've wanted one for a long time, and this gave me an excuse to make that purchase.  Also, it's super compact, which gives me a lot of freedom to alter the appearance without having to make it any larger.  In fact, the gutty-wuts are significantly smaller than the original plastic housing.  With that in mind, I plan on a final product that's actually a fair amount more compact.  I just finished mocking up the guts as a template and I'd like to get moving on a design as soon as possible.  

So, I'm here to ask for your input.  I know what I  want, but not at all what everyone else wants and I'd like to turn this into something that gives me and my little one man design firm some extra business.  

Here's what need from you:

• Crazy spaceship looking, high-design, or something else?
• What consoles would you like to see re-shelled?
• What price would you be comfortable paying for an item like this?
• Do you want extra features or not?  Things like lighting, custom paint, personal logos and whatnot, etc.
• Do you want to re-case the console yourself, or have me provide a service?
• Do you want to preserve the original state of the internals?  I.e. Do you want to be able to easily slap the guts back into the original shell, or are you interested in something that has been modified to fit into a vastly different casing, or has repositioned switches, or whatever?
• Are you even interested in this idea at all?

Speak up!  I'd love to hear what you folks think whether you hate it or love it

[scarmullet]

If you could make a SNES shell that works with fat SNESs and looks like SFC/PAL SNES, that would be groovy.

[Forte]

Good god that SoNintendo PlayStation mockup looks amazing.

I'd like to see things along the line of that, prototype/unreleased console shells we can put existing hardware in, like the Sega Neptune and that wonderful PlayStation.

[shenske]

There is definitely a market for a reshelled fully compatible NintendoPlayStation that looks just like the prototype. I've considering having a hack as a PSone and SNESmini for quite some time but i don;t have a full grasp on the technical know-how.

[TyrannicalFascist]

Wow this is a cool idea. I must say a NintendoPlaystation shell would be so awesome. Would that be for SNES or PS1...or both?

Maybe you could find a way to create the long-lost Sega Neptune... As cool as it is to have a Genesis/CD/32X now (with the wireless controller reciever on the front too), the thing looks like a monstrosity, and takes up a butt-load of room. Maybe you could find a way to combine them into a shell that looks like the Neptune? I know the Sega CD wasn't supposed to be included, but if it were possible, then it would amazing.



I don't know if this is possible, but what about a small console-like device that would house a computer designed to play old DOS or Windows games on your TV. I know I could just use a small computer and USB controllers/keyboard, but it would be cool to have some aesthetically nice looking machine for playing those old classics as if it were a video game console. Not to mention playing Wacky Wheels or Star Wars: X-Wing and TIE Fighter on my TV would be so awesome. Maybe set up so you could plug in either USB or original computer devices? Then maybe someone could create some kind of start up menu that can let you quickly play installed games like a console game menu, rather than going to an OS like Windows 98 or something. I'm probably talking about a project beyond what you're suggesting, but I'm just spit-balling here.

Lots of possibilities. I'm curious to see what everyone suggests. Let me ponder this for a while...

[shenske]

Maybe you could find a way to create the long-lost Sega Neptune... As cool as it is to have a Genesis/CD/32X now (with the wireless controller reciever on the front too), the thing looks like a monstrosity, and takes up a butt-load of room. Maybe you could find a way to combine them into a shell that looks like the Neptune? I know the Sega CD wasn't supposed to be included, but if it were possible, then it would amazing.

I remember reading an article a few years ago where someone crammed a 32x in with a genesis into a model 2 shell. It was a super tight fit but it looked just like a genesis model two but had full compatibility with all 32x and Genesis games.

[wiggy]

SNES friendly SFC shell would be pretty easy.  The best part is that I'd only need to design a top half, which would make it a lot cheaper.  

I really don't want to delve into trying to combine systems or anything that demands a lot of electrical engineering and whatnot.  It's not something that I have a lot of training in or experience with.  The other part about that would be spiraling costs.  I could see units like that getting way, way pricey with all the work involved between design, having parts made, all the reconfiguring of the internal hardware, yadda yadda yadda.  I could create something that would house the guts from more than one system, but it won't be at all like those little boxes that play different consoles.  I would be restricted to the existing hardware, so I would only be able to r-house them next to each other or something to that effect unless you wanted me to do a bunch of re-wiring in order to get the cart ports close to each other.  


The Nintendo PS shell would be really easy.  The SNES mini internals would fit into something that size with no prob whatsoever.  In fact, as much as I don't want to try and do a mash up, squeezing a SNES mini and PSone in a shell that size wouldn't be at all implausible.  Or maybe just making it a DVD/CD player instead.  The only difficult thing would be the slide out tray.  It may need to be a SNES/PS2 in order to get that done without MASSIVE amounts of fabrication and additional hardware.


You guys mind tackling some of my other Qs?  I could really use some feedback so I don't go off wasting gobs of time on this if it's not going to be worth it.


Also, keep in mind that I'll be using a rapid prototyping method for creating these.  There's no way I'm going to sell enough to warrant having injection molding tools made.  These will all be one-off.  The plus side is that ANYTHING is possible.  There is no concern of undercuts locking up a mold or anything like that.  I can have literally ANY shape made using this process.  So, custom graphics/logos/whatev can be added to the part itself.  Not paint, but embossed, or debossed, or completely cut out.  Every unit can be custom tailored to the owner's taste.  The downside is cost.  The price per unit on an injection molded part is far less, but there are tooling costs.  Like I said, I don't imagine selling enough to cover those sorts of costs.  Having each one printed individually will cost more per part but it's the only way I can think of to make this endeavor possible.    Without 3D printing tech I would not be able to do something like this.


I definitely can't go the stuff a PC in a shell router or anything like that right now.  That sort of thing would require some hardware and software engineering, and that is most definitely something that I am simply not capable of on my own.  I have friends in those fields, but I'm not going to bother them with something like that unless I can be sure that I/we will be able to make money doing so.  

Just way over my head


The 32X/Neptune thingamajig would be easy easy if I wasn't constrained by an existing case (like a Genesis model 2).  I know I've had at least one or two guys on Cheap Ass Gamer poke me about something like that after I posted some of the modded consoles that I've done.  If there's enough interest, I could definitely make that the next thing that I tackle.

[irvgotti452]

PSnesOne! The neptune would be cool if you can design the top half of to fit the gen2 case.
As for your other questions here are my suggestions :


•nostalgic but modern looking design
•nes, genesis model 1, Ps1 sliding tray??, sega saturn sliding tray??.
•price range btwn 25-about 60 tops if its major modding
•colora selection yes! Custom lighting on a logo bezel would look good
•doi it myself system with minor instructions
•if its done by some one then yes repositioned switches and heavy modding
•highlyt interested

[TyrannicalFascist]

Fair enough, I figured what I was talking about was a much bigger project. Though I do have a friend who is an electrical/software engineer, who could probably do combining of systems for me. The reason I brought up the classic PC idea was because a year ago that friend and I were talking about such a thing, and he said he could do it, but the shell was what he couldn't do.

For the Neptune, I'd personally prefer if it wasn't supposed to fit a pre-existing shell like the Genesis Model 2. I'd rather it be a brand new separate device, perhaps designed to look like the unreleased console shell. I'd say if someone else can devise a straight-forward way to combine the innards, you could create a shell design, and like the NintendoPlaystation shell, I think there's a market for it - if nothing else as a part of Sega history.

To answer some of your questions:

What consoles would you like to see re-shelled?

I've not really thought too much about it until you presented the idea, but I think just about any cartridge-based system could stand to be re-shelled. The original NES comes to mind, as does Atari systems. For example, if there was a way to cram an Atari 7800 into a wood-finished shell that felt like the 2600, I'd buy that.

What price would you be comfortable paying for an item like this?

As your average person who has no idea what the costs are of making this kind of thing, if it was just for a solid color shell by itself, I'd say less than $60. More features and for you to provide the service should be an extra fee I think.

Do you want extra features or not?  Things like lighting, custom paint, personal logos and whatnot, etc.

I could see a use for custom paint and maybe a "powered on" LED for lighting, but other than that I wouldn't be interested in the other features. Others might be though. Again, it wouldn't hurt to have those features as an option at an additional cost.

Do you want to re-case the console yourself, or have me provide a service?

Depends on how easy it would be for me, your average not-mechanically-inclined person.

Do you want to preserve the original state of the internals?  I.e. Do you want to be able to easily slap the guts back into the original shell, or are you interested in something that has been modified to fit into a vastly different casing, or has repositioned switches, or whatever?

Also depends, mostly on the design. I'd love to see some shells that simply take the place of the old shell with little modification. But there could also be some potential in making smaller shells for big systems to reduce their size.

Are you even interested in this idea at all?

Hell yeah I am.

[wiggy]

PSnesOne! The neptune would be cool if you can design the top half of to fit the gen2 case.
As for your other questions here are my suggestions :


•nostalgic but modern looking design
•nes, genesis model 1, Ps1 sliding tray??, sega saturn sliding tray??.
•price range btwn 25-about 60 tops if its major modding
•colora selection yes! Custom lighting on a logo bezel would look good
•doi it myself system with minor instructions
•if its done by some one then yes repositioned switches and heavy modding
•highlyt interested

Do you want the Neptune thing in a GenII case?  I mean, it could be in something that looks just like the Neptune proto.

Thanks for the answers! 

25-60 is not likely.  I can't even give a rough estimate at this point, but I don't think I'll quite be able to hit that sort of price point.  I'll get quotes soon and let you guys know.

Fair enough, I figured what I was talking about was a much bigger project. Though I do have a friend who is an electrical/software engineer, who could probably do combining of systems for me. The reason I brought up the classic PC idea was because a year ago that friend and I were talking about such a thing, and he said he could do it, but the shell was what he couldn't do.

For the Neptune, I'd personally prefer if it wasn't supposed to fit a pre-existing shell like the Genesis Model 2. I'd rather it be a brand new separate device, perhaps designed to look like the unreleased console shell. I'd say if someone else can devise a straight-forward way to combine the innards, you could create a shell design, and like the NintendoPlaystation shell, I think there's a market for it - if nothing else as a part of Sega history.

To answer some of your questions:

What consoles would you like to see re-shelled?

I've not really thought too much about it until you presented the idea, but I think just about any cartridge-based system could stand to be re-shelled. The original NES comes to mind, as does Atari systems. For example, if there was a way to cram an Atari 7800 into a wood-finished shell that felt like the 2600, I'd buy that.

What price would you be comfortable paying for an item like this?

As your average person who has no idea what the costs are of making this kind of thing, if it was just for a solid color shell by itself, I'd say less than $60. More features and for you to provide the service should be an extra fee I think.

Do you want extra features or not?  Things like lighting, custom paint, personal logos and whatnot, etc.

I could see a use for custom paint and maybe a "powered on" LED for lighting, but other than that I wouldn't be interested in the other features. Others might be though. Again, it wouldn't hurt to have those features as an option at an additional cost.

Do you want to re-case the console yourself, or have me provide a service?

Depends on how easy it would be for me, your average not-mechanically-inclined person.

Do you want to preserve the original state of the internals?  I.e. Do you want to be able to easily slap the guts back into the original shell, or are you interested in something that has been modified to fit into a vastly different casing, or has repositioned switches, or whatever?

Also depends, mostly on the design. I'd love to see some shells that simply take the place of the old shell with little modification. But there could also be some potential in making smaller shells for big systems to reduce their size.

Are you even interested in this idea at all?

Hell yeah I am.

If your friend is interested in co-oping that sort of thing, then feel free to have him drop me a line.  Send me a pm if you're/he's interested and I'll give you my contact info


OK, so I'm not a big Genesis person, is the Neptune just a Genesis/32X in one?  If so, does that mean I'd need to gut a Genesis and 32X, (semi)permanently join the two, and case it?


I think it'd be a blast to take design cues from all these old systems and carry them over to a more modern design. Especially something like the 2600 with the wood veneer


As far as DYI, the SNES mini would require that you remove 11 screws, move the board to the new shell, then reinstall those same 11 screws in pretty much the same positions as they started in (and maybe the cartridge bay door spring).  I'm trying to make it both easy and devoid of any haxoring.  I can't imagine many folks are gonna want to cut their old consoles up too much just to re-case them.  I know I don't.


I would like to do some shells that are very different from the originals (like that wacky purple SNES in the 1st post).  These would of course require a lot of modification, but I'm totally down for that as long as people are OK with how much work that involves ($$$).


By custom, I mostly mean graphics and whatnot.  I don't plan on designing shells from scratch for everyone, unless they want to pay for that sort of thing.  There's gonna be dozens of CAD hours in order to make this happen, and there's no way anyone's gonna pay me for those hours just to get there own 100% custom case.  I'd have to sell 'em for a couple grand if that were the case


Again, thank you for the replies!  Keep 'em coming folks!  This helps me out a lot

[DKBananas]

A must have would be a NES reshell that converted it into a toploader.  All the internals would remain unmodified.  A bracket with a straight in 72 pin connector bridged over the original internals.  The connector would have to be custom designed or hacked from a game genie.  The most cost effective way to bridge the new connector would be solder in a ribbon right onto the MB 72 X2 ugh.

[TyrannicalFascist]

Yeah the Neptune was supposed to be a Genesis+32X in one. You would have to gut those two and join them to make a case. I don't know how much work would be involved in doing that, but I've seen several successful projects on YouTube using existing cases. I've even seen one where a guy took a Genesis, Sega CD and 32X and put them in a modified Saturn case. Here's an example that might help you get the gist of how it could be done: http://youtu.be/w-8k55lpi9c

I misunderstood on the custom cases, as I said I have no idea about any of these things.

Recasing sounds pretty easy, so I'm all for it. I'd probably say for one of your first shells, make one that can be easily replaced by your customers. Cases based on prototype systems also sounds really cool. I'll have to hear the prices before I'd do it, but I'll be interested to see what you come up with.

[zakurowrath]

Someone over at AtariAge even did a Jag/CD combo mod which was stunning to see, it should have looked like in the first place.

[madrocsz]

There are several consoles I would love to see revised/modded to fit certain tastes. Below I will suggest some consoles and changes I would like

PS1/PS2

- I hate disc trays, pop up disc covers etc, I would love to see a PS1 for example with disc intake like that of the current PS3's
- Universal color, I have a PS1, PS2 and new PS3 and all 3 are different colors or for example PS3 (60 GB) is shiny. Possibly a matte or metallic gray or so
- Logos that look more uniform, again not completely different from each system
- Mods/Lighting : really keep this conservative, blue lighting at disc input and possibly an underglow or whatever while the system is running/processing
-If wanted to get really fancy a small touch screen or something that can be manipulated through controller to utilize and manage memory card data.
-ONBOARD MEMORY (screw memory cards alltogether)

Price I would be fine paying - 100$-200$ if not more depending on what all can be done

NES/SNES/64

Probably 10 or so years ago I thought of a design for combining multiple systems, much like the retro-duos etc. I always pictured a Trifoce (triangle design) with each side having a cartridge slot and controller ports for each system. It could be any color, even glow. Figured find a way to have the outputs come out of the base and make the base a lazy susan type deal where it can easily spin. System selects can be auto-detecting or even switchable buttons on top/side, that way can leave others on. However, that being said here are some general suggestions

- ON/OFF switch for NES (much like top loader)
- Ability to insert cartridges laying down (much like original NES) to help eliminate space requirements above system, have had many problems trying to put stuff in cabinets etc in past and pain to get carts in and out.
- Ejector switch/button (like snes) fine it better than ripping carts out on angles etc
- 4 controller ports on NES/SNES, screw you multitap

Price - 100-200$ as well

Genesis/32x/CD/Saturn/Dreamcast

- Backwards compatibility (however this might be that impossible) on CD games
- Genesis w/ 32x slot attached, much like picture above

Price 75-175$

[wiggy]

Wow, that took a ton of work to do!

I'm really trying to avoid having to do extensive mods to hardware and whatnot.  It's super cool, but mondo labor intensive, which also means mondo pricey.  I was a vendor on a few car forums for a long time and I made a bunch of one-off, labor intensive items.  It sucked.  I would always be working on someone elses project, which meant I could never move forward with new ideas.